However, the 20-year-old, making his debut in the competition, was served a sermon in history by his senior mate Vikram Rathour. The North skipper was referring to the striking similarity the contest holds to a duel against the same rivals, two seasons ago. That November evening, South needing 391 for victory were miserably placed (117-4), with a day to spare. Sridharan Sharath (140) and Sadagopan Ramesh (140 not out) had pulled off a sensational win with their 255-run fifth wicket alliance.

``But this is a different game...different venue and we possess a different attack,'' opined Rathour, a member of thelosing team at Faridabad then. This time round things are indeed different for North.

Set a demanding task of scoring 417 runs off a possible 135 overs, they were precariously placed an 69-4 at one stage. And when stumps were drawn for the day under fading lights, 45 minutes behind schedule, they were still 293 runs in arrears.

Glimmer of a fightback and an exciting contest on the morrow were evident in the 55-run unbroken association between Vijay Bharadwaj (batting 35) and wicket-keeper Somasekhar Shiraguppi (batting 32).

Earlier, Virender Sehwag (70) and Harvinder Singh (33) provided the fireworks as North blazed to nearly double the overnight score of 224-2. They added 221 runs in just 43.3 overs before Rathore applied closure to the innings.

The fifth-wicket pair of Rathore (136) and Pankaj Dharmani (72) was separated early in the day but not before the duo had laid a 180-run foundation. The 20-year-old Sehwag took the attack to the cleaners with judicious strokeplay which was later emulated byHarvinder.

Left-arm paceman Hannumara Ramkishen (6-141) was the odd man out in the South attack which otherwise appeared pedestrian. The Andhra lad returned an impressive match haul of 10-182.

The South openers Sujit Somasundar (11) and Arvind Shetty (36), understandably began on a sedate note. Somasundar, the more circumspect of the two was the first to depart, fending Bhandari to Jitender Singh at short-leg. Even before they could overcome the loss, Bhandari dealt another blow, yorking newcomer Sridharan Sriram (0).

Shetty, followed suit, attempting a heave off Bhandari only to see the off-stump taking a walk. And when another debutant Ashish Nehra lured Sharath (3) with a superb outswinger, South's cup of woes was full.

Scoreboard

North Zone (1st innings): 225

South Zone (1st innings): 254-9 decl

North Zone (2nd innings) (overnight 224-2):

Jitender Singh b Ramkishen 0 (5b, 5m), Vikram Rathour c Shetty b Ramkishen 136 (245b, 349m, 14x4, 1x6), Rajeev Nayyar c Somasundar b Ramkishen 43(62b, 85m, 9x4), Pankaj Dharmani c Somasundar b Ramkishen 72 (176b, 218m, 5x4, 3x6), Virender Sehwag b Ananthapadmanabhan 70 (74b, 91m, 9x4), Mithun Manhas lbw b Ramkishen 27 (46b, 60m, 2x4), Vijay Dahiya c Shiraguppi b NP Singh 27 (46b, 48m, 5x4), Harvinder Singh b Ananthapadmanabhan 33 (32b, 61m, 6x4), Pradeep Jain b Ramkishen 1 (2b, 4m), Amit Bhandari not out 8 (9b, 17m, 1x5); Extras: (6b, 7lb, 15nb) 28. Total:

(for nine wickets declared off 113.3 overs; 472 mins) 445

Fall of wickets:

1-0, 2-75, 3-255, 4-303, 5-371, 6-377, 7-409, 8-410, 9-445

Bowling:

Ramkishen 32-4-141-6 (14nb), NP Singh 15-0-74-1 (1nb), Raju 29-8-62-0, Bharadwaj 7-2-33-0, Ananthapadmanabhan 21.3-3-87-2, Sriram 9-1-35-0

South Zone (2nd innings):

Sujit Somasunder c Jitender Singh b Bhandari 11 (56b, 91m, 2x4), Arvind Shetty b Bhandari 36 (62b, 103m, 6x4), Sridharan Sriram b Bhandari 0 (5b, 3m), Vijay Bharadwaj batting 35 (74b, 99m, 7x4), Sridharan Sharath c Dahiya b Nehra 3 (8b, 15m), Somasekhar Shiraguppibatting 32 (49b, 75m, 4x4); Extras: (1b, 1lb, 5nb) 7. Total: (for four wickets in 41.3 overs, 196 mins) 124

Fall of wickets:

1-45, 2-46, 3-59, 4-69

Bowling:

Harvinder 10-3-46-0, Nehra 14-4-34-1, Bhandari 9-1-17-3 (5nb), Jain 5.3-1-14-0, Sehwag 3-0-11-0